


Surprise Attack

by RPGwrites



Series: Bad Things Happening Card [5]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hiding a injury, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, internal bleeding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:14:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26508811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RPGwrites/pseuds/RPGwrites
Summary: Aya has more to offer than meets the eye. Ulrike finds the leader of the Resistance interesting. When news of a surprise kett attack come neither Ulrike nor Evfra knows whether they can trust it. How could this be happening?
Relationships: Evfra de Tershaav/Female Ryder | Sara
Series: Bad Things Happening Card [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831141
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	Surprise Attack

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of the Bad things happening prompts. Prompted by: [ WickedWitchoftheWilds ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedWitchoftheWilds/pseuds/WickedWitchoftheWilds). Prompt: Hiding a injury
> 
> A big shoutout to [ soldiermom1973](https://archiveofourown.org/users/soldiermom1973/pseuds/soldiermom1973) for betaing. Thanks for all the help!

Aya was beautiful. It might just be the most beautiful planet Ulrike saw. Which is why it saddened her to leave the next day. 

She was here on business asking the ambassador what jobs there were. Being on the Pathfinder’s team after everything that happened would be too weird for her. So, she decided to leave. 

The kett have quietened down apparently. Between Pathfinder- related works, making sure the colony is in check, and destroying kett outposts the Pathfinder team has been quite busy. 

“Admiring the view?” A deep voice asked. It took her mind a while to recognize him but in the end, she did. 

“Evfra, making sure I don’t sneak into your city?”

The angaras were still careful with who they let into their city. The only time she was in there was to see the Milky Way ambassador. And then she was escorted. 

But her eyes kept wandering to all the forbidden places. 

“I hope you understand,” he said, “We can’t just let anyone inside.”

That was the first time she looked at him. She gave him a smile and spoke, “Of course.”

His Ushataliin went off and he either looked disappointed or concerned. She couldn’t tell. “The Pathfinder is here.” Then his features deepened into a frown, “And he refuses the correct docking procedures.”

This time Ulrike frowned. She wondered why. From the looks of it, Evfra didn’t seem like he expected the other Ryder. “He’s here unannounced?”

Evfra threw her a look and it almost seemed like he wanted to say something about the Ryders but it never went past his lips. “Yes,” he said instead. “But it’s not surprising.”

Ulrike nodded. She didn’t understand what the problem was. “Alright. Mind if I go with you to the docking bay?”

* * *

When they got to the docking bay they saw a very energetic Pathfinder. He was swaying his hands as he tried to explain something to the angara before him. 

“Problem?” Ulrike asked Evfra.

“Let me speak to my people.”

He didn’t even wait for her to nod or say yes. It was clear he didn’t want her to follow. He first went to a group of heavily armed anagaras. Evfra looked as serious as he could be. Then he went to the angara that spoke to her brother. 

When the flaying arms got worse she decided to check it out for herself. 

She stepped down the steps and went in the direction. 

“Ulrike!” Her brother exclaimed as he saw her. Evfra only grunted in response. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him.

She frowned. Her brother acted as if she and Evfra were besties for years. Which meant only one thing: He was desperate. 

“What’s going on?”

“The kett is going to attack,” he said with urgency. “We need to prepare.”

“What?” she asked in shock. That didn’t make sense. “Here on Aya?”

He rolled his eyes in the process of being frustrated, “Yes here on Aya. Why else would I be here?”

Ulric was frustrated because no one would listen to him. Not even his own twin sister. 

“How do you even know this?” She wasn’t sure if her brother’s words rang true but he wouldn’t say this without having a good reason. 

“That’s exactly the problem,” Evfra scoffed. 

She frowned looking at them both. There was a piece of the puzzle she was missing. She didn’t know Evfra well but from what she heard of him he would always take something like this seriously. 

“What aren’t you saying?” she questioned. 

Immediately her brother’s expression changed. Whatever it was he didn’t want to admit it. Could it be really that bad? “My source is Akksul.”

She blinked in response. “Akksul? Like the leader of the Roekaar, Akksul?” Ulrike immediately understood why Evfra didn’t want to take this seriously. From what she heard there was bad blood between the two angara. Heck, there was bad blood between him and her brother’s teammate, Jaal. 

“Yes,” he admitted ashamed. Then his gaze fell on Efvra’s, “You know I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t believe him,” he said. This time as if Ulric and Evfra knew each other for years upon years. 

“Akksul can’t be trusted.” He stated it plainly. 

“I’d love to believe you, Ulric,” Ulrike told her twin. “But how would they even get past the defences?”

An alarm went off as if that answered her questions. 

Evfra swore, “That’s not good.”

“Is it them?” Ulric asked. 

“What does that mean?” In the days Ulrike was on Aya she never heard an alarm like that go off. Whatever it might mean she couldn’t imagine it was anything good. 

Evfra’s answer was frantically typing on his ushataliin. Soon he went to the side and talked to his men. 

“Ulrike, do you believe me?”

She looked around her, guns getting ready for something. Something was definitely going on. She just couldn’t say what it exactly was. “Let’s just find out what’s going on.”

She walked towards Evfra and her brother followed her. “Did you find out what’s going on?” she asked just when Evfra finished his call. 

“Unauthorised ships. They’re still doing the necessary scans. But it doesn’t match any friendly signatures.” Even she could see how worried he was. His face looked more sour than usual. Filled with stress. 

“Can it be the kett?” Ulric asked. 

“Impossible,” Evfra denied immediately. “They wouldn’t get through to our defences.”

Ulric threw him a stare and Evfra might not have known what it meant but she certainly did. He didn’t believe him. So both of the Ryders followed the Resistance leader to the command centre and Ulrike thought she wouldn’t be allowed but luckily she was. 

It was chaos in the command centre. Angaras running around and giving orders. Everyone froze when Evfra spoke though. 

“Report.” His voice demanded to be obeyed. 

One almost jogged to him and explained the situation. Just before Ulrike tried to lean in to hear what they were saying while the chaos continued to reign, she heard a very large sound. 

First, her ears couldn’t process it. She blinked trying to sort it out in her mind. Then she realized it sounded like an explosion. 

Evfra immediately left his conversation and went to the monitors. They spoke softly and her translator couldn’t pick their words up. Till Evfra spoke in alarm. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Commander.”

He nodded and walked back to them. It looked like Evfra just received the most disappointing news. But he didn’t look at her at all. He looked at her brother. “Pathfinder you are right. Kett is attacking Aya.”

Ulrike nodded, immediately wanting to take action. “What can I do to help?”

"You’re not going anywhere,” Evfra said sternly. 

She rolled her eyes, “I know you don’t really know me, Commander. But I can shoot. Let me help. I was in the Alliance before this.” Too late she realized Evfra wouldn’t even know what it is. 

“Alliance to what?” he asked, being confused. 

“Human Military,” she clarified. “Point being I can fight and help.”

“Here,” her brother handed her a pistol, “It’s all I can give. Go back to the Tempest and gear up. I’ll radio one of my teams to help you get there.”

“I can walk by myself. There’s no time to spare.”

“You have no armor-”

“And we have no time!” she stated. “I’ll stay in cover. I’ll be okay.”

* * *

With a lot of reluctance, her brother let her go. She used her barrier until she couldn’t. But with a couple of scrapes and bruises thanks to fighting off kett, she got to the Tempest. 

SAM gave her access and she got weapons and armor straight away. She equipped an assault rifle and shotgun and was on her way again. 

She got out of the Tempest with guns blazing. She either shot the kett or used her biotics on them. It wasn’t long until she joined one of her brother’s team. 

Under cover she introduced herself, “I’m Ulrike Ryder.”

“Nice to see you again,” a woman with blonde hair said. She recognized her fast enough. She held her hand out in the form of a handshake. Then she pointed to the turian first, “This is Vetra. And that is Peebee.” Cora showed towards an asari. 

“Nice to meet all of you. I heard so much about you all.”

When Ulrike was still recovering from her second coma thanks to the Archon, her brother used to visit her and tell her stories about the crew. 

Just as Vetra wanted to say something the shooting started and Ulrike got into position. 

* * *

They moved from fight to fight but it seemed like there was an endless amount of kett. She did have to ask herself how did this happen? How did the kett succeed in this attack? How did they get across the Anagaras defences?

Ulrike used throw on one kett and shot another with a shotgun. The shotgun left a whole in the deceased kett. Her armor already had weak points and her shields were down. She got shot in the shoulder. Blood pouring out of it and she slapped some medi-gel on it. Instead of the sharp piercing pain, it went duller with time. And she could continue fighting. But it wouldn’t last forever. 

“Well I’ll admit that I didn’t believe Akksul,” Peebee said as they moved on. Green blood was everywhere.

“People can change,” Cora said optimistically. “We should give them space to do so.”

In Ulrike’s perspective that almost never happened but in this case, he was right. “Onto the next one?” she asked as she heard battle ringing in her ears. 

* * *

Ulrike was using nova on a group of kett. When she felt something hit her hard. It wasn’t sharp or piercing. It didn’t feel like a gunshot. No. This was something else. 

It hurt so much. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. But everything moved in time again and Cora stood with her shotgun. Her barrel still hot from firing shots. “Are you okay?” She looked her over with concern, trying to see if she had any visible injuries. 

“Yeah,” she said in a tight voice and Cora pulled her up. She winced and she hoped the others didn’t see it. When she checked her suit she realized there was a weak spot where a kett hit her with a blunt object. 

She saw red where her suit indicated an injury. It was where she was hit. But when she checked she saw she wasn’t bleeding. 

This was fine. Nobody would need to know. This could wait till later. She commanded her suit to inject some medi-gel and she was on her way. 

* * *

Everything hurt. Her muscles ached from the long and hard fight. But the most demanding was the injury she got thanks to the kett. Part of her body felt numb. But she was in so much unbearable pain.

Each movement sent a jolting pain. She tried to hide it away. Her suit indicated there was no bleeding hence there was nothing she could do about it. 

Besides, there were other people that needed medics more than her. People on the streets were dying. They did their best but the kett was stronger. The truth was they were outnumbered. 

Just when Ulrike shot her last kett she almost lost her balance. She felt light-headed. Figures before her got in and out of focus. Some began to be blurry. 

“Woah, you okay?” Peebee grabbed her arm. And that might just be the thing helping her keep her balance. 

“Just out of energy,” she lied. She wore her biotics down for sure. Her body needed calories. But that wasn’t the most demanding. 

For a while, the asari didn’t say anything, “Okay.” Anybody could hear that she didn’t believe Ulrike. But luckily she let it go. 

Ulrike grabbed a high energy bar in hopes it will help her feel better. But of course, it didn’t. 

* * *

The fight was long and hard. Many injured and many died. But they drove the kett away. Evfra looked pissed. 

“We have a traitor,” he told his remaining men. “The kett couldn’t have passed our defences otherwise. I want answers.”

After Evfra’s orders, she looked for what she could do. Her head was pounding, figures before her span faster and faster. Her responses were slow. 

“Are you okay?” Her brother asked her suddenly.

It took her a while to form the words in her mouth. “I...Yeah. I’m fine.” She gave him a weak smile. 

He didn’t believe her either. His frown said as much. “I think you should be checked out.”

“No, I feel fine.” Her words were louder. She snapped at him. “Look, there’s just a lot going on. And these people need our help.”

His eyes bore into her brain and for a moment she thought he wouldn’t let this go. But luckily he did. “Alright. But afterwards, you’re seeing Lexi.”

Lexi? It took her a moment for her brain to figure out who it was. Then she remembered that’s her brother’s ship’s doctor. “Okay.”

So they went further and the intensity of her symptoms increased. She started to groan from the pain and everyone took notice. 

“Where do you need me?” she asked the Resistance leader. 

“You can-” But when he looked at her he stopped. His face was too blurry to tell her why. “Are you alright? You don’t look so good.” He sounded unsure. As if wondering if it was normal for humans.

“I’m fine,” the words felt like it was floating. She was hit with a wave of heat and nauseous. “I’m just-”

And she saw darkness.  


* * *

Evfra never saw a human fall that quickly. His voice reacted before his body did. He immediately requested a medic to take the other Ryder. 

Once she was taken away and his orders continued his mind couldn’t help but keep lingering on her. He wondered why this would have happened? Visibly he didn’t see that she was injured except her shoulder, or that she bled, so what happened? 

Of course, this meant it didn’t take the Pathfinder long to come knocking at his door. 

The human was out of breath. Inhaling and exhaling deeply to catch his breath. Surely he must’ve run here. “Where’s my sister?” he demanded. 

If it were any other situation the Resistance leader would have reminded him at whose office he was. But Evfra felt himself empathising. “In the medical wing.”

“And that is where?’

Evfra groaned as he stepped away from his desk. “Follow me.” 

* * *

It didn’t take long to get at the medical wing. Something which Ulric was thankful for. He called Lexi on his way asking her to come. 

Lexi worked with the angaran doctors trying to find answers for why Ulrike had collapsed. And at that time Ulric couldn't focus on his work. Later on, he paced next to her room, having given up trying to help out. 

When the door slid open he thought his heart almost stopped. 

Lexi came out and it was near to impossible to say what news she might bring. 

“Do you know what’s wrong?” Ulric didn’t lose any time. 

“Yes. She suffers from internal bleeding,” Lexi said. 

He frowned in response. “Internal bleeding? How? She wasn’t injured in the field. Except for her shoulder of course.” He backtracked. He already asked the team that was with her but they reported nothing. Peebee did say that Ulrike seemed off though. 

“From what I can tell,” she unlocked her datapad looking at the evidence before her, “She was hit with a blunt object. There is a purple colouring where it happened.”

This was when he began to really worry. “Can you stop the bleeding?”

“Yes,” she confirmed, “She’s going to go for emergency surgery. I’ll keep you updated.” She squeezed his arm in the process. 

* * *

Evfra couldn’t work. He tried but his mind had other ideas. He was wondering about Ulrike’s process. Was she critical? How did no one see her get injured? 

So he decided to go to her room in the medbay. Outside the Pathfinder sat. A frown that could only mean he was concerned. 

“Pathfinder,” he greeted with a gruff. 

He looked so tired he didn’t get up. “Commander. What are you doing here?”

He joined the Pathfinder on the ground. “I wanted to hear how Ulrike is doing.”

The Pathfinder looked at him with a look of disbelief. As if he didn’t know if he could trust his words. “Why?”

He led off with a shrug, “Today she was one of my soldiers.” It was a lie of course. He couldn’t say why he came. He only knew he was worried about her 

The Pathfinder slowly nodded his head, “She has internal bleeding.”

Evfra still didn’t understand. “From an injury in the field.”

“Yes. I think she hid her injury away.”

Evfra shook his head in disbelief. “Why you humans would do something foolish is beyond me.”

* * *

Efvra and Ulric sat on the cold floor, waiting for news. It felt like time dragged on forever. The Pathfinder felt the need to fill the silence, but Evfra didn’t. Until the Tempest doctor came out. 

“You can see her now.” He suspected it was more said for her brother than him. She gave him a concerned look, probably wondering why he is there. But didn’t say anything. 

He gave the twins some space but after a while the Pathfinder left. 

So Evfra sat with her but it wasn’t long until her eyes fluttered open.

“Wh…” She groaned. Not expecting the pain. 

“Ulrike you should rest,” Evfra recommended. 

“Evfra?” Her voice was weak and frail. Not as strong and lively as it once was. He felt like he was invading her privacy somehow. 

“Yes,” he confirmed. 

“Why are you here?” her one hand went to her temple massaging it. 

“You're one of my soldiers today,” he repeated the same lie. “Hiding an injury was very foolish.”

A weak smile curved the corners of her lips. “Were you worried?” she challenged. 

“No.” He said immediately. It might’ve been too fast. 

“Liar.” She called him out. But suddenly it seemed like the little energy she had was disappearing. She was getting sleepy. 

He stood up from his seat. “Get some sleep. I’ll check in after a while again.”

Her only response was giving him a weak smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come and say hi on [ Tumblr ](https://rpgwarrior4824.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Ushataliin is taken from [ MyrddinDerwydd ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyrddinDerwydd).


End file.
